This is our first story of the new year (2010). DefenseReview has received a link to the “leaked” Remington ACR (Adaptive Combat Rifle) promotional/demo video (demonstration video) below that we presume Remington has actually released on purpose in calculated fashion (just a guess), pre-SHOT Show 2010. The video would seem to suggest that Remington has finally worked out all the ACR‘s large-scale production/manufacturability issues that’s kept the gun from coming to market. It would also seem that Remington has the FN MK16 SCAR-L (SCAR-Light) squarely in their sights, at least for the LE (law enforcement) and civilian market sectors. Here:

DefenseReview has been told by several tactical firearm industry insiders that Remington or Bushmaster, or whomever, has had multiple engineers–as many eight (8) of them–working together to solve the ACR’s (large-scale) production/manufacturability problem. This is just rumor-mill / inside-the-beltway-type gossip / unconfirmed/unverified reports, but it/they came to us by some pretty knowledgeable people. If true, that would not be good. You never want to put eight engineers / designers / developers on ANYTHING. As a general rule, the best gun designs have, at most, two designers / engineers / developers.

Anyway, assuming that the Remington or Bushmaster (or both) design/engineering team has completely worked out all the manufacurability kinks and they can get the ACR tactical rifle/carbine to market right after SHOT Show, or at least relatively soon thereafter, the weapon works as advertised in the video (i.e. reliably, accurately, and with good durability in all combat, environmental, and weather conditions), and Remington can introduce it at a price point that’s not too high AND maintain good QC (Quality Control), the ACR should do reasonably well out there. From a sheer ergonomics and features standpoint, there’s a lot to like about it, and DefenseReview likes having another gas piston/op-rod rifle/carbine choice out there. From a consumer’s standpoint, the more choices, the better. When DefenseReview first wrote about the ACR, then known as the aforementioned MagPul Masada ACWS, right after SHOT Show 2007–three years ago, now!–we liked what we saw and handled, overall. But manufacturing/producing a gun in large numbers is very different from hand-building a small number of prototypes.

Anyway, it’s about time. Let’s just hope the Remington ACR lives up to the hype. We’ll be sold on it when one of our evaluators or Special Forces (SF)/Special Operations Forces (SOF) contacts signs off on it. Until then, our money either stays in our wallets or gets spent on other weapons.

DefenseReview is curious as to whether or not Remington will purchase or has purchased the right to manufacture the MagPul Massoud 7.62x51mm NATO (7.62mm NATO)/.308 Win. rifle/carbine. Considering the trouble they’ve experienced getting the ACR into full-scale production, it would be understandable if Remington were hestitant. That said, they could most-likely apply at least some of the lessons learned from the ACR program to the Massoud.

About David Crane

David Crane started publishing online in 2001. Since that time, governments, military organizations, Special Operators (i.e. professional trigger pullers), agencies, and civilian tactical shooters the world over have come to depend on Defense Review as the authoritative source of news and information on "the latest and greatest" in the field of military defense and tactical technology and hardware, including tactical firearms, ammunition, equipment, gear, and training.